Any gardener who loves the taste of pecans should consider growing the Elliot pecan tree in their yard. This cultivated pecan tree variety, Carya illinoinensis ‘Elliot,’ is capable of providing a large harvest of delicious pecans. Those pecans not only appear in large quantities, but they are also very sweet and have thin shells that are easy to crack. The Elliot pecan tree is also one of the most disease-resistant pecan tree varieties you can find, so you can expect this plant to remain healthy and productive for as long as you take good care of it.
I. Appearance and Characteristics
Hardy pecan ‘Elliot’ is a cultivar tree in the Juglandaceae (walnut) family. It is widely planted in the Southeast, mostly for its delicious edible nuts that appear in the summer after an insignificant bloom and for its resistance to scab. ‘Elliott’ produces a small, teardrop-shaped nut of very good quality, usually in alternate years.
‘Elliot’ will usually grow 50 to 100 feet tall with a spread of 30 to 75 feet. The largest of the hickories, this deciduous tree has a uniform, symmetrical, broadly oval crown and is massively-branched. Large major limbs grow up and out from the trunk in a distinctive upright, spreading fashion. On older trees, lower branches become wide-sweeping, with their tips almost touching the ground. Trunks can grow to 6 feet in diameter.
Pollination is the second most important factor in purchasing pecan trees. Pecan trees are monoecious: they have separate male and female flowers on the same tree. Pollen is not released when flowers are receptive, so pollination within and between the same cultivars is limited. Cultivars are separated into type I and type II for pollination purposes. ‘Eliot’ is a type II pollinator. For optimum pollination, NC State Extension recommends planting at least three cultivars with at least one of each pollination type for best cross-pollination. All cultivars have positive and negative attributes, so do your research before purchasing.
II. How to Grow and Care
Sunlight
The Elliot pecan tree grows best in areas that receive full sunlight.
Watering and nutrients
Once you have planted your Elliot pecan tree, you should water it daily for most of the first growing season. Following that first season, you should water this plant every two weeks or more often during hot weather. It’s best to fertilize an Elliot pecan tree during the late winter or early spring while the tree transitions from dormancy to an active growth stage. The fertilizer you use should either have an equal balance of the three main nutrients or be somewhat nitrogen-rich.
Pollination
Pollination for Elliot pecan trees is somewhat complex. Although this plant has both male and female flowers, which typically allows for self-pollination, the Elliot pecan tree still needs at least one pollinating companion plant. The reason for this is that the Elliot pecan tree is a Type IIpecan tree, meaning it sheds its pollen well after the female flower structures are receptive to pollen. To allow for pollination, it is best to grow a Type I pecan tree nearby. These trees produce pollen earlier and will make it far more likely that your Elliot pecan tree will produce nuts.
Planting Instructions
Before planting an Elliot pecan tree, you should find a large open area, as these trees become quite large at maturity. Typically, it’s a good idea to give this plant about 30 feet of space. The growing location should also have full sunlight and deep soils that drain efficiently. Plant your tree by digging a hole that is twice as wide as the tree’s root ball and about as deep as the root ball is tall.
To get the best results from an Elliot pecan tree, you should make sure that you plant it in an area that has soil that is at least 3 to 5 feet deep. Soils that are shallow or rocky often fail to support this tree’s growth. Also, don’t be surprised if you cannot grow other plants near your Elliot pecan tree. Like other pecan trees and walnut trees, the Elliot pecan tree releases a chemical into the soil that kills plants that may compete with it.
Pruning
There are two times of year during which you can prune your Elliot pecan tree. The first occurs in early spring when active growth resumes. The second period is during the early fall. In either of those seasons, you can prune to remove dead, damaged, and diseased limbs. You should also prune away branches that grow at a narrow-angle to the trunk as these branches do not support high volumes of nuts as well as branches that are more horizontal.
Pests and Diseases
Unfortunately, there are many diseases and pest issues that an Elliot pecan tree may face in its lifetime. Powdery mildew, rot, fire blight, and many more diseases can harm this tree. Additionally, the Elliot pecan tree can contract cedar apple rust when it grows too close to a cedar tree. Regarding pests, aphids, stink bugs, webworms, and weevils can all cause infestations that diminish this plant’s health and ability to produce fruits. On the positive side, the Elliot pecan tree is more resistant to scabbing than other pecan tree types.
III. Harvesting and Storage
The nuts of an Elliot pecan tree will be ready for picking in the fall. Harvest times typically fall somewhere between late September and November. When harvest arrives, there will be a few visual cues that indicate a nut is ready to pick. The first sign is that the outer husk of the nut has split open to reveal the shelled nut within. The shell of the nut itself should have an even and deep brown color.
